The Call Of The Wild

Everybody should heed

By Sue Wendt

There she was, a gigantic mother elephant, flapping her ears dramati cally and threatening to mash us into tiny pieces if we didn’t move out of her territory—fast! And what about that ten-ton rhino, charging out of the scrub at the rate of knots . . . and the family of lion cubs, gambolling in the afternoon sun and looking every bit as harmless as a basketful of kittens. . . .

They’re just some of my memories after visiting Kenya, land of Uhuru, wild animals and high adventure.

Wild game safaris, 1972 -style, mightn't be as peril-fraught as in the days of the legendary white hunter, but they provide modem adventurers with a wealth of excite ment.

Since BOAC’s introduction in April of the world's first air service linking the South West Pacific with

East Africa, via Hong Kong or Singapore, Colombo and the Seychel les, travel to Europe has taken on a fascinating new dimension.

This particular BOAC routeing (one of five entirely separate BOAC routeings to Europe) gives South Pacific travellers a unique opportunity for shopping in the Orient, soaking up the sun in the gloriously restful Seychelles, then journeying on to Nairobi, modern skyscraper-studded gateway to East Africa.

Adventure begins just a few miles from the outskirts of the city.

Spectacular scenery unfurls as your safari vehicle, driven by an English speaking Kenyan guide, presses on into one of the world’s few remain ing wildernesses. You feel as though you're participating in some film producer’s fantasy. It can’t be real.

There are even pink elephants! If

you’re lucky, you might even spot a creature called a knob-bristled forest elephant shrew or a bird with the intriguing name of velvet-mantled drongo!

One of the most popular shorter safaris out of Nairobi is the three day tour taking in Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo National Park, with overnight stops at excellent hotels like Amboseli Lodge, beneath the snow-capped dome of Mt Kiliman jaro, and the luxurious Ngulia Lodge, set high on the mountain ridges of Tsavo.

In dry weather, you drive through the dry lake bed of Lake Amboseli, where the heat haze causes a remark able mirage, a vast shimmering body of water that isn’t there at all. The landscape is dotted with bulbous trunked baobab trees, hung all oyer with coconut-sized bundles of twigs, nests of the weaver bird. Ostrich flap their useless wings and stride off the plains, while hundreds of dainty im pala flick impudent tails before dis appearing into the long grass.

You see great herds of zebra,

giraffe and hump-backed wildbeest.

Whole families of elephant amble within a few yards of your car, their wrinkled hides strangely pink. The

Long grass almost hides this seven - passenger micro-bus as it stalks one of the giant inhabitants of Tsavo National Park in Kenya. He's not being hunted for his tusks though—only his beauti ful smile!

guide explains it’s because they delight in spraying themselves with liberal coatings of red Amboseli dust , . . and there’s a baby one, doing just that.

Amboseli, covering an area of 1,000 square miles, is famous for the large number of rhino and free-roaming predators such as lion, leopard, cheetah, hunting dog and jackal. The animals are obviously accustomed to seeing safari vehicles and their camera-toting passengers and it’s possible to get up really close for he photographs of a lifetime. But Jon’t be fooled. Their unconcern is anly skin deep. Underneath, those mimals are mighty wild!

The elephant incident occurred on he arid plains of Tsavo National s ark, Kenya’s largest wild life strong lold and playground of the world’s argest concentration of elephant (an

istimated 20,000).

Having driven off the beaten track 0 a waterhole just before sundown ve came across mama elephant and icr baby, plus an assortment of nammoth relatives, enjoying a mud ►ath. Perhaps mama was camera hy, or maybe she objected to being •bserved at her ablutions. Her ear

lapping, trunk-waving antics con

amed some sort of message and as he made some preliminary shuffles □wards our parked car, we left Tonto.

Game safaris are, of course erfectly safe if you heed your tour U '! e , S . a . dvice: “ Don t leave the stabhshed roads, don’t wander bout after dark and don’t leave our vehicle.” And always take otice of signposts saying “Warning! dephants have right of way.”

Though the animals are sufficiently jlerant of tourists to allow photo raphs, some of the tribespeople you icet along the way are a little jspicious of cameras. So would I be 1 believed that the person taking iy photograph was capturing my soul 1 the camera! It’s not only courteous ut common sense to ask before stealing a shot of a colourfully lad tribesman.

Past African tour operators such > the United Touring Company hich has a fleet of 300 vehicles in enya and Tanzania—operate safaris mgmg from a couple of days to two eeks or more. UTC’s distinctive mra-stnped micro-buses and private irs even venture as far as eastern aire, the former Congo, around the

Mountains of the Moon and Lake Kivu. Here, visitors can see active volcanoes, gorillas and the pygmy tribes of the Ituri rainforest.

Most of East Africa’s visitors originate from Europe and the United States, but following the introduction fo BOAC’s new routeing to London via Kenya, more and more travellers from the south-west Pacific are availing themselves of this excitmg new holiday opportunity.

Whether you’re travelling economy or first class, BOAC s super-silent VC 10s jet you there with the utmost efficiency and comfort.

One minute, or so it seems, you’re

dining on fresh prawn hors d’oeuvre and grilled filet steak maitre d’hotel (one of BO AC’s delicious and varied economy class meals), the next you’re deposited at Nairobi Airport, at the start of an adventure you won’t forget.

It’s good sense to take only the minimum of clothing on safari and the animals are completely unim pressed by the latest fashions. Slacks and shirts are ideal. If you’re deter mined to do things properly however, Nairobi shops offer a large array of very snappy safari outfits for both men and women. And don’t forget to pack your camera.